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Hurricane Clarice
Hurricane Clarice was the third named storm, first hurricane, major hurricane, and first Category 5 of the record-breaking 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm formed in July as a Cape Verde-type hurricane before passing through the Windward Islands, where it caused moderate damage in Barbados and St. Vincent. Clarice then narrowly passed by Jamaica as a Category 4 storm and later made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula at its peak as a Category 5 storm just north of Tulum on the mainland of Quintana Roo. After crossing the Bay of Campeche the hurricane made a final destructive landfall in the state of Tamaulipas in northern Mexico. When its central pressure fell to 927 mbar and its sustained winds reached to 160 mph (260 km/h) on July 14, Clarice became the strongest hurricane ever to form before August, breaking a record set by Hurricane Emily in 2005 by just two days, as well as becoming the second only Category 5 hurricane ever recorded before August. Clarice continued to strengthen beyond its record-breaking strength, with its peak intensity observed at 165 mph sustained winds and a central pressure of 923 mbar later that same day. __TOC__ 'Meteorological history' Tropical Depression Five formed in the central tropical Atlantic the evening of July 5. Early on July 7, it strengthened and was named Tropical Storm Clarice. Initially forecast to strengthen rapidly and move west-northwest through the Greater Antilles, Clarice instead moved almost due west toward the Windward Islands, remaining a moderate tropical storm. The storm languished while moving quickly west, and struggled with maintaining its form. Late on July 8, Clarice strengthened rapidly and reached hurricane strength while passing Barbados and St. Vince before entering the eastern Caribbean. The intensification trend picked up again the next day with a fairly rapid drop in the storm's central pressure as it entered the southeastern Caribbean Sea, a region typically unfavorable for intensification. Hurricane Clarice's winds increased in reaction bringing the storm to Category 4 strength early on July 10. The storm maintained this intensity over the next several days as it continued on its nearly straight track to the west-northwest through the Caribbean, with minor fluctuations in intensity. On July 12, Clarice passed just south of Jamaica, and the next day the Cayman Islands, as a strong Category 4 storm, inflicting massive damage throughout the island nations. Shortly after passing through the vicinity of the Cayman Islands, Clarice strengthened considerably, making it the strongest hurricane ever on record to form in the month of July with peak winds of 165 mph (270 km/h), the earliest Category 5 in the Atlantic basin, and only the second on record behind 2005's Hurricane Emily. Clarice maintained this strength until it made landfall in rural areas just south of Cancun at 9:15 pm EDT on July 14. The eyewall passed directly over the city, inflicting massive damage. The center of circulation emerged over the Gulf of Mexico by noon on July 15. Passage over land disrupted the hurricane's center of circulation, and it had weakened to a minimal hurricane with wind speeds of 75 mph (120 km/h). However, several hours over the warm waters of the western Gulf provided the energy needed for Clarice to regenerate, and by midnight wind speeds were gradually increasing. The increase in wind speed stalled, but the storm continued to become better organized, with Clarice beginning to show very symmetrical outflow. The result was a rapid strengthening of the inner core on the afternoon of the 16th. The pressure dropped about 30 millibars and the winds went from 90 mph (145 km/h) to more than 125 mph (200 km/h), all within a few hours. Further strengthening occurred in the final hours of Clarice's approach towards Mexico, resulting in a secondary peak intensity of 140 mph (220 km/h) with 946 mbar. The storm made landfall around 6:00 pm CDT (0000 UTC) on July 17 near Playa Bagdad in Tamaulipas. After heading inland over northeast Mexico, it dissipated over the Sierra Madre Oriental on July 18. 'Preparations' 'Impact' 'Aftermath'